Ron Paul rallies supporters on eve of GOP convention

TAMPA, Fla. — Ron Paul lost the 2012 Republican presidential nomination to Mitt Romney, but don't tell that to Donna Hall, leader of Paul's Campaign for Liberty in Virginia.

“Cheating party leaders are fighting harder than ever. They will do whatever they can to remain in power,” the libertarian activist said on the eve of the Republican National Convention. “We are the future.”

For nearly 10,000 Paul loyalists from Maine to California, the future was now on Sunday. At a raucous, five-hour event alternating between political passion and rhetorical venom, the self-described libertarian revolutionaries celebrated their hero's career and his political legacy.

“The question is: What do we do next?” said Ashley Ryan, a 21-year-old Paul delegate from Maine who was recently elected the youngest member in the history of the Republican National Committee. “We may have lost a battle, but the war is far from over. We continue to fight to restore the Republican Party.”

Despite his backers' enthusiasm, the Texas congressman's fight will be notably absent on the convention floor this week. Paul declined an opportunity to speak at the Tampa convention because Romney's campaign imposed two conditions on any speech the maverick libertarian would deliver — that it be reviewed in advance by the nominee-to-be's team and that it include an endorsement without hesitation or reservation.

Sunday, a defiant Paul told his supporters that GOP leaders “have gone too far” to silence his supporters. He said convention organizers have “overstepped their bounds” to keep Paul's message of freedom, liberty and non-interventionism out of the Republican tent.

“Well, we'll get into the tent, believe me,” he said, “because we will become the tent eventually.”

The 77-year-old political maverick from suburban Houston said pundits and GOP strategists have been too quick to write off his movement.

“They say the revolution won't be happening,” he told his supporters. “Don't they only wish.”

Paul's speech capped off a 330-minute event featuring political figures including the candidate's son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, young tea party congressman Justin Amash of Michigan and former California U.S. Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr.

Inside the University of South Florida's Sun Dome, the Paul movement was in full voice. Texas guitar legend Jimmy Vaughan rocked the house with his song, “Down with Big Brother.” Posters blaring “Ron Paul Revolution” and “Hope for America” were everywhere. Supporters came dressed in costumes such as a red, white and blue Lady Liberty. One man wore a T-shirt declaring, “Tyranny Response Team.”

“Our goal is not political power,” said Marianne Stebbins, chair of the Minnesota delegation to the 2012 GOP convention. “Our goal is to live free.”

Master of ceremonies Doug Wead, a former adviser to George W. Bush, described Paul as “a clean boat in a sea of garbage.”

Paul's is not “the extreme wing of the Republican Party,” Wead said. “Their meeting starts tomorrow, a few miles away.”